Three Rings
by LibbyAnn13
Summary: In payment for Tea, Hatter receives 3 rings that change his life forever.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Three Rings (1/3)

Rating: R just to be safe.

Characters: Hatter, Duchess Alice

Pairings: Hatter/Duchess, Hatter/Alice, Small mention of Duchess/Jack

Summary: In payment for Tea, Hatter receives 3 rings that change his life forever.

Notes: While watching Alice Pt. 2 for the first time on a large screen I noticed that Hatter wore 3 rings on his right hand. It got my mind thinking. This is my first Alice fanfic and my first time writing anything other than school papers in a few years. I'd love to hear what you think bad or good.

Hatter was sitting at his desk shuffling through papers when the knock came. He piled them into a neat stack tapping the end lightly on his desk before he called out to the person on the other side of the door.

"Yes?"

Dormie, his sometime secretary most time nuisance partner came shuffling in.

"Hatter, there's a pretty Blonde here to see you."

His eyebrows drifted high on his forehead. What could she want now. She hadn't been in here for some time and it wasn't like her to go through the proper channels, most of the time she slipped through his back door without as much as a introduction.

Settling himself in he nodded to Dormie, "Send her in."

The little man nodded and gestured to someone behind him. As the beautiful women walked through the door Hatter stood and bowed slightly, for appearance purposes only.

"Duchess, what can I do for you."

She walked with a purpose this time, but he could see through it. They had spent enough time together for him to be able to read through the mask she had put up. He heard the door click closed and it wasn't until then that the woman before him let go of her facade and seemed to deflate. He noticed the black circles under her bloodshot eyes and way she wrung her hands. He stepped out form behind his desk and led her to his couch.

"David, he's left me."

The despair in her voice made his heart ache. It must be very hard to love someone that didn't love you in return.

"Jessica, he'll come back you know that. There isn't anywhere in Wonderland Jack can't hide without his mother finding him."

It wasn't until then that the tears came. He hated to see women cry and pulled her into his arms rocking her gently.

"That's the thing David, he isn't in Wonderland. Jack stole the ring and ran off the the Otherworld."

Hatter was shocked. The only people who ever went into the Otherworld were the White Rabbit and his crew to gather up oysters.

"Has the queen sent the White Rabbit after him?"

Duchess nodded and sniffed. Hatter nearly smiled, quite an undignified response from the future queen of Wonderland. He rubbed her back gently as the tears slowly subsided and thought of how this set up came to be.

It was about a year ago that Jessica AKA Duchess had started coming to his shop. It started out simple enough, she had learned about the credibility of his shop and how he could get almost anything. He had asked her during one of their first meetings why she just didn't dip into the queens stock. She was a favorite, he was sure she wouldn't have minded. Her answer was simple enough, she needed to get out of the palace/casino. She wanted a life of her own before she was to be tied there by obligation. So he had let it go on.

At first it was just the simple emotions she wanted. Excitement, Beauty, Contentment, Bliss... Through those transactions they learned more and more about each other. When she started buying Passion and Lust he got curious. That was when he learned about Jack.

Jack Heart, Prince of Hearts, did not love his bride to be. While not formally engaged yet it was only a matter of time everyone in Wonderland knew that. She confessed that she wanted to slip it to him to make their lovemaking more passionate and less of an obligation. It was then that the payments changed.

There was no love between the Duchess and Hatter. No Lust either, except that which came in a bottle. But understanding. Both were unloved. Both knew what it felt like to be alone and they came together to help. That was how she payed. It wasn't lovemaking in the slightest. It was harsher, carnal, needful. They were fucking plain and simple.

But through it all they had become friends of a sort. She told him all about the queens plans (which unbeknownst to her he used to get in good with the resistance) and how much she hated being her pawn, while he shared stories of his youth and rumors on the wind of a rumor that a new Alice would come.

But that was the past and this is the present and when the Duchess finally calmed down he gently placed a hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his.

"What do you need love."

She cast her eyes downward once more and took a deep breath, "Love."

Hatter sighed. They had talked about this once before. "Darlin' you know I can't"

She cut him off with a shake of her head, "Bottled."

His hand fell from her face. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. "I've only got one bottle left and you know how expensive-"

She cut him off with a finger to his lips, "I can pay" She whispered as she straddled his waist.

Hatter shook his head, "Not this time Jessica. As much as I enjoy your company a bottle of Love is worth more than that and you know it."

"Call it a bonus." She whispered as she bent to lay a kiss on his neck. He moaned lightly and grabbed her hips to pull her closer to him.

Some time later as they lay together on the couch, him behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, fingers lightly tracing circles on her exposed stomach that she spoke again.

"Did I ever tell you that my Great Grandfather was a Knight?"

Slightly shocked Hatter looked down at her curiously, "No, I don't believe you had."

She nodded. She took a chain which had been around her neck off and looked at what was strung their. Three rings hung lightly on one end.

"Well, not exactly a Knight, more of a Mage. He was trained by one of the Mirror makers. For my grandmothers 18th birthday he gave her these three rings."

She unclasped the chain and slid the smallest of the rings off. Taking Hatters hand she slipped it onto his little finger.

"This ring, was to be hers. He called it the True Love Ring. It vibrates you see when it comes in contact with the skin of the person that the wearer is meant to be with."

At this she grazed her fingertip over the cool metal of the ring and looked up at him. Nothing. She sighed and slid off the next ring. This one was larger, obviously made for a man. She slipped it onto the ring finger of his right hand.

"The other two were to be for the man that the True Love Ring marked as hers. This first one is for strength. It gives the hand and arm that it's on immeasurable power so that he could always protect his love."

Hatter could hear the wistfulness in her voice. It was a nice story, romantic in a way. Her hand trembled a bit as she placed the third and final ring right next to the second on his hand.

"With the ring of strength the man would be able to destroy almost anything in his path, including his own hand. So he made this last ring. It gives the hand and arm that it is attached to invincibility. You could break boulders with it and it will not bleed."

She turned his hand over and lay a kiss lightly on his palm. "This is my payment. Is it enough."

Hatter couldn't speak, so he merely nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Three Rings (2/3)  
Rating: R just to be safe.  
Characters: Hatter, Duchess, Alice  
Pairings: Hatter/Duchess, Hatter/Alice, Small mention of Duchess/Jack  
Summary: In payment for Tea, Hatter receives 3 rings that change his life forever.  
Notes: This part is mostly the series in Hatters POV with the ring twist.  
Disclaimer: I realized that I forgot to do this in my last post. Alice and company do not belong to me. I just take them out and play with them from time to time.

"He's back!"

It was quite hard to surprise Hatter but at this exclamation he found that he needed to mop his tea up from his desk. To his defense it wasn't every day that a beautiful woman burst in his back door screaming nearly at the top of her lungs.

"Easy love, don't want to scare the customers out front."

The Duchess winced but the elated look on her face came back after long. She came and sat across from him and started again in a softer tone of voice.

"I just got the news from one of the agents at The White Rabbit. They found him coming out of an apartment building in the Otherworld. They're taking him to the castle as we speak."

Hatter smiled lightly. He was glad that she was so happy but knew what this would mean. For the past year he and Jessica had seen each other at least 3 times a week. Sometimes they just talked, sometimes it was more than that. But now that the Prince was back all that would stop. She had her obligations and Jack was one of them. On the other hand, he hadn't seen her this happy since before she had given him the rings.

"Well, why are you here then? Shouldn't you prepare for his arrival?"

Duchess beamed, "I just wanted to thank you for all you've done for me David. I don;t think I could have taken this year without you."

Hatter smiled and stood moving close to her to give her a friendly 'goodbye' hug. He had no idea when he would see her again.

He led her to the back door, his arm around her waist, hers around his shoulders, "Go, be happy."

She smiled wider, if that was even possible, and planted a kiss on him that made his toes curl. Then she simply turned and walked out.

Hatter sat in his comfortable white chair and stared at the closed door. He would miss her company, that much was certain but he thought it might be more than that. For the first time he felt jealous of Jack Heart and what he had, especially since he didn't appreciate it.

After some time came a knock at the door that produced Ratty. He came with news sometimes, others with precious things he found in the canal that he tried to use to buy tea with. This time he came with a girl.

He was surprised that she was afraid of heights. She seemed so sure of herself in his office that he didn't think anything could shake her. Slightly annoyed, not only at her but at the whole situation of that day, he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Look at me."

She closed her eyes instead. He couldn't help wondering if they would be stuck here on the ledge all day. He softened his voice a bit and called out her name. Finally she looked at him and when he held out his hand to her she took it.

He felt calm. All the annoyances of the day seemed to melt away at her touch. She seemed to be shaking because he felt a small vibration where her hand grasped his. As he told her to look at him he didn't have to worry about keeping his voice gentle.

He couldn't understand why his eyes wouldn't look away from hers as he led her down the ledge.

While searching for Alice in the Hearts Casino he resisted the urge to look for the Duchess as well. It hadn't been long since he saw her last, only about a day in fact, but he had wanted to know how everything had went. But those thoughts went out the window when he saw Alice standing, nearly on her tip toes, at the edge of a very small board. The next thing he knew she was flying through the air assisted by a hanging light fixture and into his arms. Through their trip something had been happening to him. As they went on he had been thinking less of Jessica and more of Alice. Granted it seemed like he had to get her out of trouble every five minutes but that was besides the point. He reveled in the feel of her hands at his back when they rode to the Kingdom of the Knights and hated the pain he felt when he saw that she had left his coat behind. The feeling he got when she jumped into his grasp was more powerful than either, in fact it seemed to be a little of both. Why did he have an interest in the women that were taken.

Then they were running and there was no time for thinking. As they flew down the stairs he didn't like her being behind him so against everything that he had believed before he slowed down and allowed her to go ahead of him.

Then they got into the elevator and he could stop and think for a second while Charlie spouted off some nonsense. Never in his entire life had he risked himself for another person. Yet with this Alice he seemed to do it time and time again.

It wasn't long before he and Alice were fighting again. He didn't understand why she couldn't see the simple facts of Wonderland. One does not fuck with the Queen. He was trying to get this point across to her, again, when his world was shut down with four little words.

"Because he's her son."

What the hell was so great about Jack Fucking Heart. And what the hell was wrong with him. Why did he always have to care for the women that this asshole had first. He could barely state the obvious when the elevator signaled that they had reached the roof.

He didn't mean to kill that suit, really. It wasn't the generic suit that he saw in front of him throwing punches and choking him against the wall. It was Jack Heart, breaker of hearts. While it was happening all that went through his mind was 'It's not fair.'

The vibration in his right hand was starting to get annoying. Every time Alice stumbled as they were pulling themselves out of the lake that was the scene of their crash he would grab a hold of her arm and get that damn shock of vibration. There was something about it, something that was tickling the back of his mind. A memory of some time ago...

Then she started on again about Jack and how he's trying to help her and how he knows where her father is and how he's engaged and those thought just fly right out of his head and he needs to be the voice of reason again. A voice she never seems to heed.

Then Charlie singing stops their conversation and he can't help but be relieved. He hates fighting with her.

"What will I do, if I get stuck here?"

"Then I'll make sure you're OK."

He would too. There was nothing he wouldn't do for this woman in front of him. As he took her hands in his he felt that shock of vibration and suddenly realized what it was. The ring that the Duchess had given him a year ago, the True Love Ring, was reacting to her touch.

He was blown away. He hadn't thought of that ring in a very long time. The other two of course were a matter of his day to day life, but he had come to think of the third ring as simply that. Just a ring given to him by a friend in need.

With this revelation came another. The reason why her loving Jack was so much worse than the Duchess loving Jack, the reason why she had such an effect on his emotions, the reason why he continuously risked his neck for her.

Hatter was completely, and for the first time, in love.

That thought scared him but he pushed it away when he noticed how close they were. He decided that if he didn't try now he wouldn't have the courage for it later.

"I think your luck is finally changing."

He glanced at her lips and noticed that she did the same. He leaned in and just as he was closing his eyes he heard the worst sound in the world. Jack Heart's Voice.

"That's right it is. Hello, Alice. Not interrupting anything am I?"

He saw red. That pompous prick stood there holding Charlies sword and proud. Like it was hard to best an old man. He didn't think when he grabbed that stick. All he wanted to do was smash that heartless bastards face in. He didn't even see when Alice stepped in between them. He had tunnel vision set on Jack only. For the second time today Alice made his world stop with four little words.

"He's just a friend."

That more than anything Jack had said about him was the words that made him let her go. He would be better for her anyway. He couldn't give Alice anything, he said so himself. He had no friends, no home no goods to speak of anymore. But the Prince could give her everything, and a woman like Alice deserved everything.

So he stood beside Charlie and watched them ride off rubbing the ring on his finger and wishing things could be different.

Then deciding that he would MAKE them different.

As he stared down at the shattered head of what he now understood to be Mad March only one thought was going through his mind.

Now what.

He was unconscious when they brought him in here and he wasn't quite sure how to get out. The walls weren't really there, at least he didn't think so, and even if he did find a door where would that lead to?

He finally decided that first he would have to cut the strap that tied his other arm to the chair when he heard footsteps coming from in front of him. Quickly he grabbed the knife, slit the strap and thrust it in front of him in a defensive pose. His ribs screamed at him to slow down but the adrenaline pumped through his veins and he was able to ignore it.

"David?"

He felt all his muscles relax to the point that he had to grasp the chair to keep his balance. The Duchess had come around the corner and was staring at him. He had never been so happy to see her in his life. As she rushed to him he realized that what he might have felt for her before was gone. Replaced by true friendship and eclipsed by the love he felt for Alice.

He winced as she wrapped her arms around him, "Jessica, what are you doing here?"

She let go of him slightly and leaned back. "I'm sorry David, I would have come sooner but I didn't know that you were here. I thought that they just captured Jack and the oyster. What were you doing with them? The Queen is pissed. She's sending the oyster back to the Otherworld, she sentenced Jack to a night in the eye room and both you and Jack are to be beheaded in the morning."

He closed his eyes and sighed. Gone. Alice was gone. At least she would be home and safe. Quite a kind punishment dealt out by the Queen all things considered.

"Lets go."

He moved out of her grasp and grabbed her hand as he walked toward the area she had appeared from. He would get her out of here. They would hide away with Charlie in the old kingdom and...

"No, David."

He whirled around. He was so tired of that word.

"I have to get Jack. Get out of here. Once everything is settled down I'll send someone to find you."

The look on his face must have been perfectly clear because she just smiled ruefully.

"Even though he left and clearly doesn't love me that doesn't mean I don't love him."

He knew this argument. He'd had it a number of times with Alice. The fact that he knew no matter what he said she wouldn't change her mind added to the fact that he was so bloody tired left him no choice but to simply nod. She took his hand again and led him out of the room. He recalled the hallway that he was in and noticed a heap of clothes by the door. His hat and coat. He looked at the Duchess and when she smiled he bent down and retrieved his items. As he was standing back up he saw an odd sight through one of the front windows. A flamingo flying wildly with a brown haired girl perched on it.

"Alice."

The Duchess followed his gaze and surprise dawned on her face.

"That's the oyster. How..."

Hatter smiled and kissed her cheek, "Never mind, I might tell you some day if we get the chance. I gotta run. Good luck Jessica."

He ran down the hall too quick to hear an answer.


End file.
